LUBBOCK, Texas— Shaoping Wen and her son, Xu Wang, have been convicted for using massage parlors as fronts for commercial sex activities, according to Chad E. Meacham, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
A federal grand jury indicted the couple in September 2024 for conspiracy and other crimes linked to the operating of illegal massage parlors in Texas and New Mexico.
According to court filings, Wen, 65, owned and controlled at least seven massage parlors where Asian women participated in illicit commercial sex, with her 42-year-old son, Wang, managing the parlors in her absence. In November 2024, Wen pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conduct interstate travel and use of interstate facilities in furtherance of racketeering businesses, and U.S. District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk sentenced him to 12 months and 1 day in federal prison. She was also had to forfeit $291,990.88 and pay a money judgment of $1,771,360 to the United States.
Wang pleaded guilty to misprision of a crime and was sentenced to 362 days of time served, followed by a year of supervised release. According to court records, undercover detectives bought massages at Wen’s parlors from June 2023 to February 2024 and were offered sex for an extra price. The ladies involved identified themselves as Chinese nationals and were referred to as “laborers.”
The inquiry indicated that Wen’s car was used to take Asian ladies from the airport to the massage parlors, where they looked to live, since beds were discovered on the premises. Advertisements for the parlors appeared on websites renowned for encouraging commercial sex, with suggestive photographs and descriptions of the services provided.
In March 2024, inspections of Wen’s parlors turned up further evidence of unlawful activity, including condoms and cash. According to casino records, Wen often went to California to launder money from her enterprises, paying out nearly $1,771,360 in chips between January 2018 and August 2023. The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office handled the investigation.